USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Lynnfield > History of Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts, including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant, 1629-1864 > Part 38
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Swampscott > History of Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts, including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant, 1629-1864 > Part 38
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Lynn > History of Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts, including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant, 1629-1864 > Part 38
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Saugus > History of Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts, including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant, 1629-1864 > Part 38
USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Nahant > History of Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts, including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant, 1629-1864 > Part 38
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64
[Before Mr. Parsons came to Lynn he was settled over the Squam parish, in Gloucester, which he left, in consequence of charges of a gross nature made against him by a female member. A council was held to examine into the allegations, and before it he made a strong defense. The result of the examination appears in the following votes: "1. That the charge or com- plaint made against the Rev. Mr. Obadiah Parsons was not sup- ported. 2. That, nevertheless, considering the great alienation of affection, especially on the part of his people, (nearly one half having left his ministry,) and the little prospect there is of further usefulness among them, we think it expedient, and advise as prudent, that the pastoral relation be dissolved." The coun- cil also made a report which was accepted by church and pastor. And Mr. Babson, in his valuable History of Gloucester says the church made application for a parish meeting to be called to act upon the doings of the council; which meeting was held
357
ANNALS OF LYNN - 1793.
on the 15th of November, and resulted in the refusal of the parish to accept the decision of the council. And they further voted, unanimously, under an article in the warrant for a pre- vious meeting adjourned to the same day, that Mr. Parsons be dismissed from the work of the gospel ministry. One would think that this action clearly enough indicated the prevalent opinion regarding the guilt of Mr. Parsons. Nevertheless, the Lynn church gave him a call. And, under all the circumstances, one may almost be pardoned for the suggestion that some evil spirit governed their course, in the hope that thereby the church would be broken up.
[As might have been expected, the society was not prosper- ous under the ministry of Mr. Parsons. And there were not wanting stories of his moral delinquencies while in our midst. If he were innocent, he was greatly sinned against, and very unfortunate in being involved in suspicious circumstances. He was unquestionably a man of talents, learning, and pleasing manners, and under other circumstances might have been an instrument of much good. I have been informed by one of our most aged and intelligent citizens, who was a pupil at his school, that he would frequently send by the scholars his compliments to their mothers with the message that he would call and take tea with them. But his reputation was such that notwith- standing the sacred relation he sustained, the return message that it would not be convenient to entertain him would occa- sionally come. He lived in the Lindsay house, as it is now called, on South Common street, the second west from the corner of Pleasant.]
The ship Commerce, of Boston, was wrecked on the coast of Arabia, on the 10th of July. One of the crew was James Lar- rabee, of Lynn, who suffered almost incredible hardships, being robbed by the Bedouins, and compelled to travel hundreds of miles over the burning sands, where he saw his companions daily perishing by hunger, thirst, and heat. He finally arrived at Muscat, where he was relieved and sent home by the English consul. Of thirty-four men, only eight survived.
On the 10th of August Joshua Howard, aged twenty-nine, went into the water, after laboring hard upon the salt marsh, and was immediately chilled and drowned.
[Widow Elizabeth Phillips died on the 11th of December, aged a hundred years.]
1793.
This year the post office was established at Lynn, at the corner of Boston and Federal streets. Col. James Robinson was the first postmaster. [He died in 1832; and a brief notice of him will appear under that date.]
35S
ANNALS OF LYNN -- 1794.
A boat, containing five persons, was overset, near the mouth of Saugus river, on the 14th of December, and three persons drowned. These were John Burrill, aged 67, William Whitte- more, aged 27, and William Crow, aged 15 years. They had been on an excursion of pleasure to the Pines; the afternoon was pleasant, and as they were returning, the boat was struck by a squall, which frightened them, and caused them to seek the shore, which they probably would have gained, had not one of them jumped upon the side of the boat, which caused it to be overset. Two of them swam to the shore in safety. Mr. Burrill and the boy also gained the beach, but died in a few minutes.
Dr. John Flagg died on the 27th of May. He was a son of Rev. Ebenezer Flagg, of Chester, N. H., born in 1743, and graduated at Cambridge, in 1761. In 1769, he came to Lynn, where his prudence and skill soon secured him the confidence of the people. He was chosen a member of the Committee of Safety, in 1775, and received a commission as Colonel. His wife was Susanna Fowle, and he had one daughter, Susanna, who married Dr. James Gardner.
[Ebenezer Burrill discovered an old tan vat, at Swampscot, which evidently belonged to the tannery on King's brook, which was in operation in 1743, and took from it a side of leather which had doubtless lain there forty years. Near a branch of the same brook Mr. Burrill also found relics of an ancient brick kiln.]
1794.
On the 17th of May, there was a great frost.
Rev. Thomas Cushing Thatcher was ordained minister of the First Parish, on the 13th of August.
A new school-house was this year built by a few individuals and purchased by the town. Six hundred and sixty-six dollars were granted for the support of schools.
In the prospect of a war with France, the government of the United States required an army of eighty thousand men to be in preparation. Seventy-five men were detached from Lynn. The town gave each of them twenty-three shillings, and voted to increase their wages to ten dollars a month.
[The manufacture of snuff was commenced at Makepeace's mill, on Saugus river, by Samuel Fales. Two mortars, formed by rimming out a couple of rough buttonwood logs, were set up. And this was the beginning of a business which became profitable.
[Christmas day was so warm that at noon the thermometer stood at eighty, and boys went in to swim. Such a thing was probably never known here, before or since.]
359
ANNALS OF LYNN - 1795, 1796.
1795.
In a great storm, on the night of the 9th of December, the Scottish brig Peggy, Captain John Williamson, from Cape Bre- ton, was wrecked near the southern end of Lynn Beach. She was laden with dried fish, consigned to Thomas Amory, of Bos- ton. There were twelve men on board, only one of whom, Hugh Cameron, of Greenock, in Scotland escaped. He was ordered into the long-boat, to make fast the tackle, when the same wave separated it from the vessel, and swept his unfor- tunate comrades from their last hold of life. The vessel was completely wrecked, being dashed to pieces upon the hard sand, and the fragments of the vessel, the cargo, and the crew, were scattered in melancholy ruin along the beach. The bodies of eight of the drowned men were recovered, and on the 11th, they were buried from the First Parish meeting-house, where an affecting sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Thatcher, from Job 1 : 19, " And I only am escaped alone !" During the dis- course, Hugh Cameron stood in the centre aisle.
[In Dwight's Travels it is stated that during no summer for eighty years was there so much rain as during that of 1795. For ten weeks, commencing in the middle of June, it rained at least a part of half the days.
[Massey's Hall, so called, was built this year. It was on Boston street, a few rods west of Federal, and is believed to have been the first public hall in Lynn. Here the Republican and Democratic caucuses were held. The first dancing school was opened in this hall, in 1800.
[The schooner Dove, of about twenty tons, was this year purchased by James Phillips, Jonathan Blaney, and others, and was the first of the little schooners owned in Swampscot. In 1797 she went ashore in a storm, between Black Rock and New Cove, and became a total wreck. The same year, James Phillips, Beniah Phillips, Joseph Fuller, and others, bought the schooner Lark, of sixteen tons. In October, 1799, during a gale, she sank at her moorings, being a leaky old boat. But the Swamp- scot people were not to be driven from their purpose by these disasters, and in the same year bought another schooner of the name of the first - the Dove. Such was the beginning of that class of Swampscot marine, which now makes such a picturesque appearance in her little bay.]
1796.
[The first fire engine purchased for public use in Lynn, was bought this year. It is still [1864] in existence, and occasion- ally makes its appearance, on an alarm, attracting much more attention by its antique appearance than by its usefulness.]
360
ANNALS OF LYNN - 1797, 1798.
1797.
[Jonathan Makepeace commenced the manufacture of choco- late at the mill on Saugus river. And this may be set down as the beginning of the production of that excellent article which, under Mr. Childs, attained a world-wide celebrity. It is not improbable, however, that before this, Benjamin Sweetser had made a little chocolate, by horse power.]
1798.
[At a legal town meeting, the people of Lynn adopted an address to the President and Congress, touching our troubles with France. The address, which seems in the style of Rev. Mr. Thacher, well exhibits the loyalty and spirit of the people, and, together with the President's reply, is here given :
To John Adams, President, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America :
At a period which so seriously arrests the attention of every American, and true friend of his country, as the present, the inhabitants of Lynn, in the State of Massachusetts, feeling it to be their duty, and impressed with the just, wise and prudent administration of the Executive and the rulers in general of the American republic, ardently embrace an opportunity to announce their de- termined resolution to support their constitution and government, with all they hold most sacred and dear. Convinced as we are, that the President has, by fair, unequivocal, and full instructions, which he has given to our envoys, to adjust and amicably accommodate all existing difficulties between the United States and the French republic, done all consistent with the honor, dignity, and freedom of his country, to preserve peace and good understanding with that nation. Notwithstanding our envoys are commissioned with full power to settle all animosities with the French agents, upon the broadest basis of equity, they are treated with neglect-refused an audience, lest their reasonings should show to the world the integrity of our government and disclose their iniquity.
Legislators, Guardians! The most nefarious designs have been plotted to subvert our government, subjugate the country, and lay us under contribution ; but thanks be to the Sovereign of the universe, that we do not experience the fate of Venice, nor groan under the oppression of subdued nations. We are a free people, have a sense of the blessings which we enjoy under that liberty and independence, which we have wrested from the hand of one king, and will not supinely submit to any nation.
We wish not again to behold our fields crimsoned with human blood, and fervently pray God to avert the calamities of war. Nevertheless, should our magistrates, in whom we place entire confidence, find it expedient to take energetic measures to defend our liberties, we will readily cooperate with them in every such measure; nor do we hesitate, at this interesting crisis, to ccho the declaration of our illustrious chief, that " we are not humiliated under a colonial sense of fear ; we are not a divided people." Our arms are strong in defense of our rights, and we are determined to repel our foe.
[REPLY. ]
To the Inhabitants of Lynn, in the State of Massachusetts :
Gentlemen : Your address to the President, Senate and House of Repre- sentatives, adopted at a legal town meeting, has been presented to me by your Representative in Congress, Mr. Sewall.
When the inhabitants of one of our towns, assembled in legal form, solemnly
361
ANNALS OF LYNN- 1799, 1800.
declare themselves impressed with the wise, just, and prudent administration of their rulers in general ; and that they will support their constitution and government, with all they hold most sacred and dear, no man who knows them, will question their sincerity.
The conviction you avow that the President has done all, consistent with the honor, dignity, and freedom of his country, to preserve peace and good understanding with the French, is a gratification to me which I receive with esteem.
As the treatment of your envoys is without a possibility of justification, excuse, or apology, I leave it to your just resentment. Your acknowledgment of the blessings you enjoy, under your liberty and independence, and deter- mination never supinely to surrender them, prove you to deserve them. JOHN ADAMS.]
1799.
[A resolve passed the General Court, 7 June, establishing a Notary Public at Lynn. And this being the first officer of the kind here, it may be well to say a word respecting the history of the office in Massachusetts. Hutchinson, under date 1720, says, " There had been no public notaries in the Province, except such as derived their authority from the Archbishop of Canterbury. The House now first observed that a Notary Public was a civil officer, which by the charter was to be chosen by the General Court, and sent a message desiring the council to join with the house in the choice of such an officer in each port of the province." The custom under the second charter must be referred to; and we may conclude that the colonists under the first charter operated with a high hand in this as well as in many other things; for the Court appointed, in 1644, William Aspinwall, of Boston, Notary for Massachusetts. And in 1697, Stephen Sewall was a "notary publique."]
A barn, belonging to Mr. Micajah Newhall on the south side of the Common, was struck by lightning, about noon, on the 2d of August, and burned, with a quantity of hay and grain, and one of his oxen.
1800.
The memory of Washington was honored by a procession and eulogy, on the 13th of January. He died on the 14th of De- cember previous. The people assembled at the school-house ; the scholars walked first, with crape on their arms, followed by a company of militia, with muffled drums, the municipal officers and citizens. The eulogy was pronounced by Rev. Thomas C. Thacher, at the First Congregational meeting-house. A fune- ral sermon, on the same occasion, was preached by Rev. William Guirey, at the First Methodist meeting-house.
[The Legislature passed, 20 February, an act to encourage the manufacture of shoes, boots, and goloshes.]
On the afternoon of Sunday, March 1st, there was an earth- quake.
E2
362
ANNALS OF LYNN- 1800.
On the 11th of June, Mr. Samuel Dyer, a gentleman from Boston, was drowned in Humfrey's Pond, at Lynnfield.
[On Friday, 18 July, the first regular New England Methodist Conference commenced at the meeting-house on the Common. Among those present were Jesse Lee, George Pickering, Joshua Wells, Joshua Taylor. Joshua Hall, Andrew Nichols, William Beauchamp, Thomas F. Sargent, Daniel Fidler, Ralph Williston, Timothy Merritt, and John Finnegan, elders, and fathers of American Methodism, though some of them were then young in years. The Conference continued in session two days. The preachers, however, remained over Sunday, when ordination services were held. Bishop Asbury delivered an address, from the text, Matthew ix : 36-38. While the congregation were still assembled, the clouds gathered and a copious rain descend- ed. This was deemed a " signal instance of divine goodness ; " for a severe drought had prevailed, and the preachers had been zealously praying for rain.]
On the 26th of July, Mr. Nathaniel Fuller, aged 38 years, was drowned from a fishing boat, near Nahant.
The ship William Henry, of Salem, owned by Hon. William Gray, was wrecked on an island of ice, on the 1st of May. Three of the crew were John Newhall, James Parrott, and Bas- sett Breed, of Lynn. They launched the long-boat ; and the whole crew, consisting of fifteen persons, leaped into it. They saved nothing but the compass, the captain's trunk, an axe, and a fishing line. For six days they had no water but a small quantity which had fallen from the clouds, and laid in the hol- low of an island of salt water ice. On the fourth day, they caught a fish, which some of them devoured raw, but others were too faint with their long fast to swallow any. When the storm and fog cleared up, they went ashore at Newfoundland, and the next morning found their boat stove and filled with water. They subsisted three days on sea peas, thistles, and cranberries. Several of the crew were unable to walk; but having repaired their boat, they put to sea, and were discovered by a vessel containing four men, who at first would afford them no relief, but after much entreaty threw them a rope, and they arrived at St. John, where the American consul furnished them with a passage home.
[An elephant was exhibited in Lynn, for the first time, this year. He was shown in the chaise house of Col. Robinson, on Boston street, corner of Federal.
[On the 24th of December there was no frost in the ground.
Previous to the year 1800, there were only three houses on Nahant, owned by Breed, Hood, and Johnson. This year a large house was erected on the western part of Nahant, as a hotel, by Capt. Joseph Johnson.
363
ANNALS OF LYNN -- 1801, 1802, 1803.
[The manufacture of morocco Jeather was introduced into Lynn, this year. William Rose established a factory on the south side of the Common, opposite where the pond now is. A small brook ran across at that place.]
1801.
A very brilliant meteor, half the size of the full moon, ap- peared in the northwest, on the evening of Friday, 16 October. [" In all my school days, which ended in 1801," says Benja- min Mudge, in a memorandum, "I never saw but three females in public schools, and they were there only in the afternoon, to learn to write." In the Lynn school reports, female pupils are not spoken of till 1817.]
1802.
Rev. John Carnes died on the 26th of October, aged 78. He was born at Boston in 1724, graduated in 1742, was minister at Stoneham and Rehoboth, and chaplain in the army of the Revo- lution. At the close of the war he came to Lynn, received a commission as justice of the peace, was nine times elected as a representative, and in 1788 was a member of the Convention to ratify the Constitution of the United States. He was an active and useful citizen. He married Mary, daughter of John Lewis, resided on Boston street, and had two children, John and Mary.
1803.
Rev. Joseph Roby, pastor of the Congregational Church in Saugus, died on the last day of January, aged 79. He was born at Boston, in 1724, graduated in 1742, and was ordained minister of the third parish of Lynn, now the first parish of Saugus, 1752. He preached fifty-one years. He was an excellent scholar, a pious and venerable man, and was highly esteemed for his social virtues. He published two Fast Sermons, one in 1781, the other in 1794. He married Rachel Proctor, of Boston, and had seven children ; Joseph, Rachel, Mary, Henry, Thomas, Elizabeth and Sarah. [Mr. Roby belonged to an excellent family. Dr. Thomas Roby, of Cambridge, and Dr. Ebenezer Roby, of East Sudbury, both highly distinguished men, were his uncles. Some of the family spelled the name Robie. His son Thomas, who was born 2 March, 1759, graduated at Cambridge in 1779; settled at Chatham in 1783, and remained there till 1795. He died in 1836.]
The ship Federal George, of Duxbury, sailed from Boston in February, bound to Madeira, with a cargo of flour and corn. In the number of the crew were three men from Lynn, whose names were Bassett Breed Parker Mudge, and Jonathan Ward.
1
364
ANNALS OF LYNN - 1803.
In the midst of the Atlantic they were overtaken by a great storm, which, on the 22d, capsized the vessel, carried away her masts, and bowsprit, and when it subsided, left the deck two feet beneath the water. The crew, which consisted of seven men, remained lashed upon the windlass for twenty-four days. Their sustenance, for the first part of the time, was a small piece of meat, and a box of candles, which floated up from the hold. They afterward succeeded in obtaining a bag of corn, and some flour soaked with salt water. Their allowance of drink, at first, was a coffee-pot cover full of water twice a day. This was afterward reduced to one half, and then to one third. On the 18th of March, they were relieved by the Duke of Kent, an English merchant ship, returning from the South Sea. When they were taken from the wreck, they had but one quart of wa- ter left. [The Bassett Breed mentioned as one of the sufferers, survived for many years, and died at Lynn, on the 22d of De- cember, 1862, at the advanced age of 87. He had accumulated considerable property, and was a worthy citizen.]
On Sunday, the 8th of May, a snow storm commenced, and continued about seven hours. The snow was left upon the ground to the depth of one inch. The apple trees were in blos- som at the time.
On the 8th of July, Mr. William Cushman, aged 23, a work- man on the Lynn Hotel, was drowned from a raft of timber, in Saugus river.
On Sunday, the 10th of July, about three of the clock in the afternoon, a house on Boston street, nearly opposite the foot of Cottage, was struck by lightning, and Mr. Miles Shorey and his wife were instantly killed. The bolt appeared like a large ball of fire. It struck the western chimney, and then, after descending several feet, separated. One branch melted a watch which hung over the chamber mantel, passed over the cradle of a sleeping infant, covering it with cinders, and went out at the north chamber window. The other branch descended with the chimney, and when it reached the chamber floor, separated into two branches, above the heads of the wife and husband, who were passing at that instant from the parlor to the kitchen. One part struck Mrs. Shorey on the side of her head, left her stocking on fire, and passed into the ground. The other part entered Mr. Shorey's bosom, passed down his side, melted the buckle of his shoe, and went out at one of the front windows. There were four families in the house, which contained, at the time, nineteen persons, several of whom were much stunned. One man, who stood at the eastern door, was crushed to the floor by the pressure of the atmosphere. When the people entered the room in which Mr. Shorey and his wife lay, they found two small children endeavoring to awaken their parents.
365
ANNALS OF LYNN- 1803.
An infant, which Mrs. Shorcy held in her arms, when she was struck, was found with its hair scorched, and its little finger nails slightly burned. She lived, and became the wife of Mr. Samuel Farrington. Mr. Shorey was a native of New Hampshire, 29 years of age. Mrs. Love Shorey, aged 28 years, was a daugh- ter of Mr. Allen Breed, of Lynn. On the next day they were buried. The coffins were carried side by side, and a double procession of mourners, of a great length, followed the bodies to their burial in one grave.
On the next Sunday, a funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. Thomas Cushing Thacher, at the First Congregational meeting-house, from Job xxxvii : 2, 3, 4. At the close of the service, a house in Market street, owned by Mr. Richard Pratt, was struck by lightning. It descended the chimney, separated into three branches, did considerable damage to the house, and left Mr. Pratt senseless on the floor for several minutes.
On Sunday, the 28th of August, at one o'clock in the morning, the hotel on the western part of Nahant, owned by Captain Joseph Johnson, took fire and was consumed, with all its con- tents. The family were awakened by the crying of a child, which was stifling with the smoke, and had just time to escape with their lives. A black man, who slept in the upper story. saved himself by throwing a feather bed from the window, and jumping upon it.
On the 8th of September, John Ballard, John Pennerson, and his son, went out on a fishing excursion. On the next day, the boat came ashore at Nahant, with her sails set, the lines out for fishing, and food ready cooked. Nothing more was ever heard of the crew ; but as Mr. Pennerson was a Frenchman, and as a French vessel had been seen that day in the bay, it was con- jectured that they were taken on board and carried to France.
On Thursday, the 22d of September, the Salem Turnpike was opened and began to receive toll. The Lynn Hotel was built this year. The number of shares in this turnpike was twelve hundred, and the original cost was $189.000. This road will become the property of the Commonwealth, when the proprie- tors shall have received the whole cost, with twelve per cent. interest ; and the bridge over Mystic river, when seventy years shall be accomplished. This turnpike, for nearly four miles, passes over a tract of salt marsh, which is frequently covered by the tide. When it was first projected, many persons es- teemed it impracticable to build a good road on such a founda- tion. One person testified that he had run a pole down to the depth of twenty-five feet. Yet this turnpike proves to be one of the most excellent roads in America.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.